This is a discussion on Tata Motors announces Horizonext with 8 simultaneous facelift launches within The Indian Car Scene, part of the BHP India category; The automobile sector in India has been going through a massive slowdown. Except for the compact SUV segment which was ...

The automobile sector in India has been going through a massive slowdown. Except for the compact SUV segment which was pioneered and dominated by Renault with their Duster and is being closely followed by Ford with its soon to be launched Ecosport, none of the other segments saw any growth. Sales charts of all automobile companies show a steep decline YOY as well as MOM. The situation hasn't improved in the Q2 of 2013 either. If there's one company that we clearly see struggling in passenger car sales analysis as well as market performance it has to be the Indian arm of Tata motors. The overall company revenue hasn't declined much, thanks to the consistent and increased contribution from it's trump card acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover. While Tata motors is still the biggest car maker by revenue in India owing to all the subsidiary companies in their portfolio from across the globe who contribute immensly to keep them healthy, the Indian passenger car business unit continued to show a decline.

Inconsistent quality issues have always plagued products from the Tata stable. Long term ownership experiences have been a mixed bag of good and bad reviews. Addressing this as a shortfall, Karl Slym took over the reigns of the company and chose to harness existing competencies across various teams in Tata Motors. The product and quality teams are now reporting directly to Mr. Slym.

Horizonext is a strategy launched by Tata motors for its passenger vehicles business unit. It stands on a four fold program of intense customer focus, world-class manufacturing practices, enriched customer purchase experience and consistent quality of service. Elaborating on each of the pillars Mr. Slym announced that their product roadmap for prospective launches till 2020 is ready. Improved quality has been their single largest focus and is announced in the company's mission and vision statement as well. Sales and dealer experience is set to be renewed with the forthcoming launch of 150 dealerships. 11 new service programs will make way to enhance the long term ownership experience of Tata vehicles.

With a view to demo what's in store for Horizonext, Tata motors unveiled 8 new facelifted products across 5 platforms with improved technologies. These new launches under the MY13 (Model Year 13) umbrella focused mainly on providing customers a taste of enhancements already implemented in their flagship model range. An all new gearbox, improved suspension, additional colour options, better interiors, host of new features, etc are a part of the technological and cosmetic improvements added to their facelifted products.

In what was a first for me, a brilliant light and sound visual graced us for the launch of the new Indigo eCS, the Sumo Gold and the new Nano. A camouflaged car draped in White was lit up step by step to focus on technologies that build up a passenger vehicle with some addition of glitz and glamour to keep it impressive.

The Indigo eCS:

A similar show was run on the Sumo Gold that stuck on the wall above the stage:

The Indigo eCS has been launched at a price of Rs. 4.99 lakhs for the BS3 version and Rs. 5.29 lakhs for the eCS LS BS4 variant (ex-showroom Delhi).

The Indigo eCS (CS: Compact Sedan) was a pioneer of the sub-4 meter compact sedan segment way back in 2008. However, Tata motors could not cash on the first mover advantage while late entrants, the Swift DZire and the recently launched Honda Amaze took the market by storm. The Indigo eCS makes a comeback with a facelift and some improvements trying to have a second run in the market with the facelift to try and gain some lost ground.

The existing CR4 engine is now mated to a gearbox called as the F-shift (feather shift) by Tata now powers the 2013 Indigo eCS. The F-type gearbox uses cables for transmission as against linkages that were used in the older gen Tata vehicles. Engineers at Tata claim that the gearshift is now lighter to use and can be operated with just one finger. The car rides on 14" multispoke alloy wheels shod with 175/65/R14 rubber. An all new suspension called "Duo Float" with dual mounting is a part of the package to give the occupants an excellent ride quality.

The exterior changes include addition of twin barrel headlamps with a smoked bezel. A Dual tone bumper quite similar to that on the elder sibling Manza makes way on the 2013 variant of the eCS. The front grille now gets chrome treatment. An inch thick chrome strip is added to the boot of the car.

On the inside the dashboard is now all Black with silver surrounds thrown in. Quality of materials used seem to have improved considerably over the older variants. The plastics are now soft to touch and the shut lines are uniform. Instrument cluster has been improvised and uses a hexagonal ring on the speedo and tachometer dials. The front door pockets can now take 1 liter bottles. Dual tone fabric upholstery and a leather wrapped steering wheel are other additions on the inside.

The equipment list gets an addition of parking assist by the use of parking sensors. ABS is now available on the compact sedan. The ORVMs get a convex far end for better overall visibility during those expressway drives.

Facelifted front end:

Similar rear as the current variant. Only difference being addition of the chrome strip on the boot and parking sensors on the bumper:

Rear three quarter view:

New alloy wheel design:

ORVM with convex far end:

A closer look at the new headlamp cluster:

Same dash as the current variant but now in Black and seems to be of better quality:

CNG variants of the Indica, Indigo eCS and the Nano were also launched at the event. The alternate fuel variants of the trio will be called Nano emax, Indica emax and Indigo emax. Pricing for these variants hasn't been provided as they are yet to be finalized for shipment to dealers.

Nano emax:

On the outside the Nano emax looks exactly as a Petrol Nano except for the 'emax' badge in the rear. To fill gas you need to pop the bonnet which you'd anyway do while filling petrol. The gas tank is tucked under the driver seat as the Nano is anyway hard pressed for space given its negligible 80 liter boot space. A small button on the dash board lets you choose the fuel to use while running the car. The engine management system for the Nano emax is different in order to have appropriate fuel maps to run the car on CNG.

No changes on the exterior or interior for the Nano CNG:

A badge to distinguish the Nano CNG variant:

Filling cap for CNG in the bonnet adjacent to the petrol tank cap:

Switch on the dash to alter between Petrol and CNG. What's interesting is that the fuel gauge alters the reading between CNG and Petrol depending on the fuel being used to run the car:

Fire extinguisher is mandatory for all factory fitted CNG vehicles:

CNG tank placed under the drivers seat:

Spec sheeet:

Indigo and eCS emax:

The Indigo emax carries the same features as the Indigo eCS on the outside except for the badging. The CNG tank is placed neatly in the boot leaving no space for your luggage. Do consider fitting a roof rack if you carry anything other than your laptop bag. I reckon that the CNG range is launched solely for the fleet customers.

Gas tank takes up the entire boot space:

Fire extinguisher tucked away neatly next to the driver:

The emax Indigo and Indica get aluminum A, B and C pedals:

Dashboard view:

CNG filling inlet valve integrated next to the petrol tank cap:

Button to swap between Petrol and CNG:

Switching to CNG turns on a Green light on the dash and alters the fuel gauge to display gas tank level. The CNG level (in kgs) can also be seen on the MID:

The Indica emax is exactly the same as the Indigo emax from the inside.

Wow! Wonderful report and compilation @moralfibre. Deserves a 5 star! And coming to the topic, as a beginning move, this seems to be really good. As a nano owner, some of the changes are really good! The black dash looks great, more than the beige and the earlier grey. Some very good moves like improving the plastic quality, re-positioning of the Power window switches (would still prefer them to be on the door handles though), the new bright colours and the body kit packages looks awesome! Very well done indeed. Integrated audio, 4 speakers, 2 gloveboxes, remote locking! Woah, now its getting more practical. What all can we expect for 2.3 lacs? No competition offers so much. All they missed are a power steering and an open-able hatch. These two are what deters many people whom I know personally. CNG should help better sales in metros and other available places. Everything seems like an old wine in a new bottle, but the new bottle has indeed been worked out in a very good way! Finally, if the quality and the additions work out well, the Sumo, Indica and Indigo can have a happy exit when they're phased out since they're quite old. With such vigor and bringing changes in the right places, I hope Tata Motors with Mr. Slym will bring out the many more such needful changes in terms of quality, service and products in the coming days! Good Luck!

Wishing Tata Motors and Mr.Slym success in reaching the next horizon. Good to read that they are focussing on Quality and Customer Service which are known to be the major pain points. I hope customers are able to experience the difference soon.

Being a Nano owner it was great to see the position of the power window switches being shifted. It is a real pain in the current model.
Also the 4 variants of Nano look really cool.
I only wish they had thought about giving Power Steering atleast for the top variant.

The Indigo eCS has been launched at a price of Rs. 4.99 lakhs for the BS3 version and Rs. 5.29 lakhs for the eCS LS BS4 variant (ex-showroom Delhi).

Looks like they have improved the quality of the interiors, although it could just be the colour and polish. I like that they have finally added a bottle holder in the front doors, but not that they haven't changed the power window switch position.

The chrome/silver button on the hand brake is new too, as is the glove box cover in the Indigo CS. Small but significant changes indicating the positive intentions of Tata under Mr. Slym, and the fact that they are finally listening. I had travelled in a CR4 engine Indica a while ago, and apart from the engine, it was still as poor as ever. Hope these are finally worth their competitive prices!

The New Nano looks good, and perhaps more importantly, they have tried to move away from the cheap image by offering premium accessories/fitments.

Why didn't they come up with an integrated audio setup in the Indigo, like they have in the Nano? Also, I think the Indigo also has auto-down driver window.

. Everything seems like an old wine in a new bottle, but the new bottle has indeed been worked out in a very good way!

I would really like to agree to this freakmuzik ! But for an auto enthusiast , i believe the wineis the most important part of the car( a metaphor of course ) . In this case the wine probably doesn't age well either! Anyways it does look refreshing ! I loved the new shade of blue on the 'Remix' trim. Tata have been playing at the fact that we Indians love chrome ! But IMO the front chrome on the new Nano looks out-of-place, Just doesn't agree with the curvature ( And here i go babbling on about design philosophy ! ) . Anyway , looks like the Indian Auto Giant has finally woken up , but with the competition having a decent head start TATA has their work cut out for them . They have to play their only only card i.e. pricing ! Being the most VFM car manufactures and adding some much needed quality to that , i believe they can be a Brand with a proper CAR image rather than as the Taxi and commercial vehicle brand they are known as today . Horizon Next sounds promising , lets keep our fingers crossed !